OBS Chapter 106 Human Body Art
Chapter 106 Human Body Art
The airflow within the maze completely stopped.
The wind, which had been carrying the dampness of the earth and flowing slowly through the maze-like corridors, was now as if gripped by an invisible hand, and even the slightest tremor disappeared.
Chris could not detect any unusual airflow except for his own breathing.
The warm breath from his rising and falling chest struck the tree wall in front of him, the subtle airflow bouncing back and gently brushing against his cheek—the only sound in the deathly silence.
The faint aura belonging to the unknown creature that he had previously sensed had completely disappeared from his field of vision.
It was as if it had never existed, leaving no trace whatsoever.
Chris slowly clenched his left hand, the cool ring on his little finger pressed against his palm.
He slowly infused it with spirituality, and the amulet emitted a barely perceptible glow, ready to be activated at any moment.
……
On the lawn in the villa's courtyard.
Warm yellow string lights hung from the eaves of the villa; these temporary, short-lived decorative lights were all lit up during the day. This was the whims of the super-rich, a privilege unique to this world.
At the party, the music played by the musicians and the laughter of the crowd mingled in the cool afternoon breeze.
Constance had changed into a light blue dress at some point.
The flowing fabric swayed gently with her movements, and the silver threads embroidered on the skirt shimmered in the sunlight.
She stood in the center of the crowd, her fingertips holding a glass of pale yellow liquor with fine bubbles, containing a few ice cubes, and a thin layer of water droplets condensed on the glass.
She was chatting calmly with the guests around her, always wearing a polite smile, her manners perfectly measured.
The carriage out of control incident was like a pebble thrown into a lake, leaving no ripples and not disrupting the party's rhythm at all.
When talking about interesting stories told by guests, her eyes crinkle at the corners, and she raises her hand, clad in a thin gauze glove, to lightly cover the corner of her lips, concealing the pearly white teeth that slightly show when she smiles, a movement that is both elegant and natural.
On the lawn not far away, two nimble kittens were chasing and scrambling around a red ball of yarn that was rolling around.
One black, one white.
The black cat wore an indigo ribbon around its neck, with a glittering gold bell hanging beside the neat bow. When it pounced, the bell jingled softly and clearly, even in the noisy party.
The white cat's tail was tied with a light pink ribbon, also tied in a round bow, and dangled with an identical golden bell. When the black cat pressed it onto the grass, it would swing its fluffy tail to break free, the ribbon brushing against the tips of the grass still damp with dew, stirring up tiny water droplets.
Between casual conversations, Constance's gaze would occasionally drift to the two playful kittens.
Every time the black cat missed its target and fell onto the lawn, only to bounce back up and continue its playful chase, the corners of her lips would unconsciously curve upwards slightly, and an undisguised tenderness would spread across her eyes.
That was a softness she had never shown before when facing guests, a softness that let down all inhibitions.
Jonathan was sitting in a chair with a backrest at a long table not far from Constance.
The toe of his raised foot was wrapped in thick white gauze. Even the slightest movement of his ankle would send a sharp pain through him, yet he maintained the position without any intention of stopping.
Even with such serious injuries, he didn't go back to the city hospital for treatment and remained at the party.
Occasionally, passing guests would glance at his bandaged feet, their eyes revealing undisguised pity, along with a hint of amused amusement.
Very few people truly care about his situation.
Among them was the young lady with fluffy blonde pigtails.
She was sitting in the chair next to Jonathan, about an arm's length away from him, holding a small plate of strawberry cake.
With a delicate, small silver spoon, she carefully scooped up the top layer of cream with fresh strawberries, one small spoonful at a time, and put it into her mouth. Even the sound of the silver spoon hitting the porcelain plate was extremely soft.
Her gaze would occasionally stealthily drift towards Jonathan beside her, her eyelashes fluttering rapidly, and a faint blush would occasionally rise to her cheeks, only to fade quickly as she lowered her head to eat her cake.
Throughout the entire conversation, she did not initiate any conversation with Jonathan.
Jonathan paid no attention to the various gazes cast his way, and even ignored the blonde lady who had been sitting next to him for half a day.
He held a stemmed glass half-filled with red wine, his fingertips gripping the stem as he gently swirled it. The wine swirled in the glass, creating shallow eddies before slowly settling down, leaving faint traces on the glass, but he didn't drink a drop.
His gaze, through the swirling of his wine glass, would occasionally drift towards Constance, then sweep over the various entrances to the villa and the shadows around it, as if searching for something, or perhaps guarding against something.
Jonathan had already learned Chris's whereabouts from Constance.
The other party was called away by the guard room to assist in the investigation of the out-of-control carriage that crashed in.
Aside from the unidentified people inside the carriage, Jonathan was the only victim in this incident.
Logically, the guards should have called the injured man to cooperate with the investigation immediately.
But instead of contacting him, the other party called Chris.
Perhaps it's because Chris was also a witness, unharmed, and mobile, making him more suitable to assist in the investigation.
As Jonathan thought this, his fingertips unconsciously rubbed the cool glass.
He himself didn't realize that he had developed a growing interest in and curiosity about this employee he had only met a few times.
On another lawn outside the villa, far from the noise of the party, only the sound of the night wind rustling through the grass could be heard.
Two black sedans, painted with red and white stripes and bearing the emblem of the Rom City Police Department, had just come to a stop, their tires making a soft sound as they rolled over the grass.
Before the engine had even finished idling, several men in dark blue police uniforms quickly got out of the car, their hands on their sidearms, and headed straight for the out-of-control carriage parked to the side.
Beside the carriage, the middle-aged butler who had been checking the situation inside, along with the two guards in the guardhouse, finally relaxed their tense shoulders and eased their anxious expressions when they saw the police getting off the carriage.
"We are aware of the situation. From now on, this area will be under the jurisdiction of the Rom City Police Department."
A middle-aged policeman wearing a dark blue police hat walked at the front. His sharp eyes under the brim swept over the two people beside the carriage. His tone was calm, but it carried an undeniable authority.
After saying that, he turned to look at the carriage with its doors tightly shut, a barely perceptible hint of seriousness flashing in his eyes, and asked again, "Are none of the people inside awake?"
The guard in the guardhouse immediately stepped forward, bowed slightly, and replied in a low voice, "Not yet. Since we discovered her, she has shown no signs of waking up. We dare not move the people inside for fear of disturbing the scene."
As they spoke, two white medical vehicles slowly drove toward the lawn.
The vehicle is a square cuboid with a red cross ribbon logo painted on the side, and it travels much slower than ordinary vehicles.
A white medical van stopped right next to the police car. The door opened, and several medical staff dressed in white robes and white medical caps quickly got out.
The middle-aged man at the head of the group had some gray hair at his temples and a look of exhaustion on his face from years of working in the operating room.
After getting out of the car, he briefly explained some precautions to the medical staff around him, then turned to look in the direction of the police.
His gaze swept over the group of police officers, finally settling on the officer who had spoken up earlier to take control of the scene.
The police officer also looked at him, whispered a few instructions to the officers beside him, and then walked towards the doctor.
"Dr. Grayson, I'm sorry, the investigation is still ongoing, and you may have to wait a little while." The police officer spoke slowly and solemnly to the doctor, whose temples were graying.
Grayson's gaze first swept towards the carriage not far away.
Several police officers were squatting beside the carriage, meticulously inspecting the wheels, horses, and the exterior walls of the carriage, not even missing the tire tracks on the grass.
He looked away, then at the officer beside him, raised his hand to remove the mask hanging from his ear, his expression equally solemn: "I understand. On-site priority. Just ask if you need us."
After a while.
The officers completed the entire on-site inspection.
A composed-looking veteran police officer quickly walked to the officer's side, leaned down and whispered in his ear the results of the on-site inspection, as well as the preliminary situation inside the carriage.
After listening, the officer nodded, then turned to Grayson, who was waiting nearby, and his expression became serious again: "Dr. Grayson, the on-site examination is complete. Now it's up to you."
Upon hearing this, Grayson pulled his mask back up to his nose and nodded steadily at him.
He led two medical staff to the carriage, grabbed the handrail, and climbed the steps first, then reached out and opened the tightly closed wooden door of the carriage.
The moment the wooden door was opened, a faint, indescribable sweet smell wafted out. There was no bloody smell, but it made people feel inexplicably uncomfortable.
Although he already knew roughly what was going on inside the car from the police officer, Grayson, who had seen countless horrific scenes in the operating room and was very knowledgeable, couldn't help but frown when he saw the scene inside with his own eyes.
The cramped carriage was packed with people.
Seven or eight naked young men and women were intertwined with each other in an extremely twisted yet perfectly connected manner.
In this carriage of less than two square meters, they huddled together in a dense, flesh-colored mass, leaving not a single gap between them.
The entire carriage was packed to the brim, with not a single gap.
But all of these people are still alive.
Both the initial check in the guard room and Grayson's current touch on the outermost person's carotid artery confirmed that they were still breathing steadily and had a heartbeat.
Everyone had their eyes closed, their eyelashes motionless, and their muscles showed no signs of tension, indicating that they were in a deep coma, completely unresponsive to the outside world.
Grayson stepped forward, his gloved fingers pinching the wrist of the outermost man, trying to pull his arm out of the tangled limbs.
But he stopped immediately after using only a third of his strength.
He soon discovered that this matter was far more difficult than he had anticipated.
These people's limbs showed no signs of fractures, and their joints were intact, yet they were interlocked and twisted together at a precise and bizarre angle, like a perfectly fitting lock.
If you pry open or pull out any one person's hand or leg, it will cause the limbs of everyone else to twist, which could very likely lead to dislocation of other people's joints or even fractures.
To safely untangle this complex human body structure, precise geometric calculations are required, disassembling the angle of each joint step by step.
Grayson's brow furrowed even more.
He was just a surgeon, and even if he knew some forensic knowledge, he was at a loss when faced with such a human body structure that completely defied common sense.
The only safe solution he could think of was to first dismantle the carriage walls as a whole, transport the human body back intact, and then find a scholar in the academy who was good at geometry to discuss a dismantling plan together.
He carefully closed the wooden carriage door again to block the cool autumn breeze and prevent the unconscious person from catching a cold. Then he turned around, got off the carriage, walked to the police officer, and told him his thoughts and concerns in detail.
The police officer frowned immediately after hearing this.
He had already learned about the situation inside the car through the police officers' report, and he had even considered the option of transferring the entire vehicle.
However, this matter involves the Rockwell family, and the higher-ups have already spoken, demanding that the situation be investigated and results be produced as soon as possible.
The officer took a deep breath, moved closer to Grayson, avoiding the surrounding officers, and lowered his voice, saying, "If it's just a dislocation and not a life-threatening injury, could you please carry everyone out of there now, one by one?"
Upon hearing this, Grayson's eyes flashed with obvious surprise, but he quickly regained his composure.
He lowered his eyes and pondered for a moment, then looked up at the officer and lowered his voice as well: "Technically, there shouldn't be any problem, but the subsequent responsibility..."
Sensing the hesitation in his voice, the officer immediately took a half step forward and lowered his voice even further: "It's perfectly normal for several people to dislocate their joints after being constricted like this. All responsibility will be clearly stated in my report; it won't involve you or the hospital."
Grayson gave him a deep look, and the other man met his gaze with a firm, unwavering look.
After a two-second silence, Grayson slowly nodded.
He turned and walked to the medical vehicle, briefly explaining the precautions and protective requirements for the transport to the waiting medical staff.
A moment later, the people entangled inside the carriage were carefully lifted out one by one by medical staff in a predetermined order.
Each time a person was carried out, two medical staff members were present to support the remaining limbs and prevent further injury. The entire process was conducted without making any unnecessary noise.
With the help of a team of medical staff, everyone was quickly and safely placed on stretchers in the two medical vehicles and covered with insulated white sheets.
Two police officers who were responsible for following up also got into the ambulance and sat in the passenger seat.
After the car door was closed, the ambulance slowly started, its wheels rolling over the gravel road as it headed towards the city hospital.
Watching the ambulance drive away, the officer, who had been wearing a police hat, raised his hand and straightened the brim of his hat, which was slightly askew.
He first turned his head and looked through the metal fence of the villa at the party that was still going on inside. The warm yellow lights, melodious music, and faint laughter coming from there seemed to be two completely different worlds from this side.
He withdrew his gaze, glanced at the remaining officers around him, his expression hardened, and his aura instantly turned somber. He spoke in a deep voice, "Get to work, everyone."